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lejun | all galleries >> Other Insects >> Bees, Flies, Wasps, Midges and Related Species >> Ichneumon and Braconid Wasps > Mummy Wasp (Aleiodes sp.)
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07-SEP-2013 Lejun

Mummy Wasp (Aleiodes sp.)

Copyright © Lewis Scharpf

Genus Aleiodes
This is a caterpillar parasitized by a "mummy-wasp" in the genus Aleiodes.
This Braconid wasp "mummifies" the host caterpillar.
This is a uuique method of parasitism, because the caterpillar
body remains intact and sometimes identifiable as the Aleiodes
larva feeds and eventually pupates inside the caterpillar leaving the host mummy
intact after the adult wasp emerges.
For more information on mummy-wasps, see; http://www.bugguide.net/node/view/239298
ID: Courtesy of Dr. Paul Marsh and Dr. Bob Carlson, Bugguide.net contributors.

Nikon COOLPIX S8200
1/50s f/4.4 at 12.5mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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